Revisiting The David Letterman Sex Scandal

David Letterman's blackmailer is now behind bars, but how is his marriage to Regina Lasko?

Joe Halderman—the man who attempted to blackmail David Letterman with information about his workplace affairs—pleaded guilty on Tuesday to grand larceny. Joe has been sentenced to six months in jail, 1,000 hours of community service and 4 1/2 years' probation. He is also prohibited from having any contact with Dave for five years. On last night's Late Show, Dave thanked the NYPD and the district attorney's office for handling his case, "professionally, skillfully and appropriately."

You may remember that Joe hatched his extortion scheme after discovering that his girlfriend Stephanie Birkitt, was having an affair with David, her then-boss. But Robert's plan fell through in October, when David announced on air that he'd had sex with several female staffers. A few days later, he publicly apologized to Regina Lasko, the mother of his five-year-old son whom he had just married in March after a 23-year relationship.

The last we heard about David and Regina was soon after the scandal broke. Allegedly, Regina forced Dave to make that on-air apology and was planning on divorcing the talk show host and getting her revenge by taking half of his fortune. Rumor had it that Regina had also thrown David out of their home and was going to take the rest of the year to decide whether to take him back. Then the Tiger Woods sex scandal broke and the media forgot all about Dave's troubles. But now that Joe Halderman's in jail, and David and Regina are approaching their one-year wedding anniversary (March 19), we're wondering how things are going at Casa Letterman.

Just recently, the New York Post ran a piece in which many former Late Show staffers dished on the gap-toothed comic, painting the picture of a guy who's a victim of his own supercharged "sexual electricity." An insider describes his appeal:

'It's like a cult,' a former 'Late Show' insider told Vanity Fair magazine for its feature on the 62-year-old Letterman.'You arrive as an intern and stay for life, and people do fall in love with Dave and behave in a way that might not be considered appropriate in a professional working environment...It was intoxicating to me, and I could see how someone could cross the line. It's like Jesus Christ saying, 'Hey, let's go to dinner!' You're going to go, 'Wow! He chose me!' If he'd hit on me, I probably would have accepted.'

Regina Lasko is really no different from these other ladies, considering that she also used to work for Dave and began dating him while he was still with a serious girlfriend. And not to say that she still can't be hurt by his infidelity, but as someone who was once "the other woman," is it fair for her to hold a grudge against Dave for too long? Apparently, all of the affairs took place before David and Regina got married...and his wandering eye may be the reason he put off marriage for so long. But perhaps that also means that Dave takes marriage vows very seriously?

What do you think, readers? Can David and Regina's marriage be saved? Should she ship him off to sex rehab with Tiger? Or should Dave take a page from Josh Duhamel's book, and ask Regina to renew their vows?